Mexican drug cartels are increasing operations to the south, complicating coordinated U.S.-Mexico efforts to break the backs of the smuggling rings.
“We’ve seen running gunbattles in places like Guatemala and Honduras between rival Mexican cartels,” reports Anthony Placido, chief of intelligence for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Increased U.S. border enforcement likely is a factor in this development, and now nearly 500 more federal agents are en route to the border, along with more X-ray machines and drug-sniffing dogs, thanks to President Obama.
We’re grateful for the help, but the war isn’t over. The cartels haven’t dropped their U.S. trade; they’ve merely expanded their territory.
Only international cooperation with all affected nations is likely to bring this blight to a halt.